Paul Dirac OM FRS
Dirac, photographed in 1933
Born	Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac 8 August 1902 Bristol, England
Died	20 October 1984 (aged 82) Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
Nationality	Swiss (1902–19) British (1919–84)
Alma mater	University of Bristol University of Cambridge
Known for	Dirac adjoint Dirac algebra Dirac bracket Dirac comb Dirac–Coulomb–Breit Equation Dirac constant Dirac delta function Dirac equation Dirac fermion Dirac field Dirac gauge Dirac hole theory Dirac large numbers hypothesis Dirac matrices Dirac measure Dirac membrane Dirac monopole Dirac notation Dirac operator Dirac picture Dirac sea Dirac spectrum Dirac spinor Dirac string Dirac's string trick Dirac–von Neumann axioms Abraham–Lorentz–Dirac force Canonical quantisation Canonical quantum gravity Exchange interaction First class constraint Fermi–Dirac integral Complete Fermi–Dirac integral Fermi–Dirac statistics Kapitsa–Dirac effect Mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics Negative probability Path integral formulation Primary constraint Quantum electrodynamics Spin magnetic moment Virtual particle Light front quantization List of things named after Paul Dirac
Spouse(s)	Margit Wigner   (m. 1937)
Awards	Nobel Prize in Physics (1933) Royal Medal (1939) Copley Medal (1952) Max Planck Medal (1952) Fellow of the Royal Society (1930)
Scientific career
Fields	Theoretical physics
Institutions	University of Cambridge University of Miami Florida State University
Doctoral advisor	Ralph Fowler
Doctoral students	Homi J. Bhabha Harish Chandra Mehta Dennis Sciama Fred Hoyle Behram Kurşunoğlu John Polkinghorne
Influences	John Stuart Mill

Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac OM FRS (8 August 1902 – 20 October 1984) was an English theoretical physicist who is regarded as one of the most significant physicists of the 20th century.

Dirac made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics. Among other discoveries, he formulated the Dirac equation which describes the behaviour of fermions and predicted the existence of antimatter. Dirac shared the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics with Erwin Schrödinger "for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory". He also made significant contributions to the reconciliation of general relativity with quantum mechanics.

Dirac was regarded by his friends and colleagues as unusual in character. In a 1926 letter to Paul Ehrenfest, Albert Einstein wrote of Dirac, "I have trouble with Dirac. This balancing on the dizzying path between genius and madness is awful." In another letter he wrote, "I don't understand Dirac at all (Compton effect)."

He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, was a member of the Center for Theoretical Studies, University of Miami, and spent the last decade of his life at Florida State University.

Publications:

---

• Lectures on Quantum Mechanics
• The Quantum Theory of the Electron
• Theory of electrons and positrons [Nobel Lecture]
• General Theory of Relativity
• Note on Exchange Phenomena in the Thomas Atom
• A new notation for quantum mechanics
• The Physical Interpretation of the Quantum Dynamics
• Relativistic Wave Equations
• Bakerian Lecture: The physical interpretation of quantum mechanics
• The evolution of the physicist's picture of nature
• The fundamental equations of quantum mechanics
• An extensible model of the electron
• The theory of gravitation in Hamiltonian form
• Long range forces and broken symmetries
• A Theory of Electrons and Protons
• A new basis for cosmology
• The theory of magnetic poles
• The Cosmological Constants
• Classical theory of radiating electrons
• Quantum Mechanics of Many-Electron Systems
• Generalized Hamiltonian dynamics
• Emission and Absorption of Radiation
• The Conditions for Statistical Equilibrium between Atoms, Electrons and Radiation
• Does Conservation of Energy Hold in Atomic Processes?
• The Elimination of the Nodes in Quantum Mechanics
• The adiabatic invariance of the quantum integrals
• Particles of finite size in the gravitational field
• Relativity Quantum Mechanics with an Application to Compton Scattering
• A new classical theory of electrons
• A reformulation of the Born-Infeld electrodynamics
• A positive-energy relativistic wave equation
• The Large Numbers hypothesis and the Einstein theory of gravitation
• The Hamiltonian Form of Field Dynamics
• The Relation between Mathematics and Physics
• The effect of Compton scattering by free electrons in a stellar atmosphere